Homeowners, contractors, surveyors, utility workers, landscapers, gardeners, farmers, ranchers, etc. are frequently confronted with tasks such as rock breaking, excavation of holes or depressions in rocky ground, log splitting, and the like. Heretofore such tasks have been complicated by difficulties in repeatedly engaging a tool with a selected area of the workpiece or work area. Thus, except in the hands of the experts, tools such as picks, axes, and the like can be difficult to engage with a selected area of the workpiece or work area on a repeated basis.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing and other difficulties associated with the prior art. In accordance with the broader aspect of the invention, a plate is provided with the plurality of apertures. The apertures are sized to closely match the dimensions of a selected implement, which is received through a selected aperture in the plate. The plate is supported and maintained in a substantially horizontal orientation by a plurality of legs. In this manner the implement is aligned with a particular portion of the workpiece while being repeatedly struck with a hammer or repeatedly raised and dropped, thereby achieving the desired result. Among the advantages to the device is its ability to facilitate the optimization of expended physical force by the operator by functioning as a guide for directing the expended force directly to the desired position on the workpiece. This guide function enables repeated impact in the same area of the workpiece.